𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

time is a sacred tool

ERITH JAY
LETTING LEO FLY a helicopter was probably the worst idea on earth. Surprisingly, he was doing fine, though.

Well, fine if you ignored the nervous fidgets and the uneasiness on his face whenever he wasn't reassuring them.

The sun was going down as they flew north over the Richmond Bridge, and Erith couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly. Nothing like ADHD and a good fight to the death to make time fly.

Erith didn't really have time to admire the scenery, though, because currently, she was gripping the back of Leo's seat so hard her knuckles were white, and was silently urging him with nonexistent telepathy to please let them live.

"Going okay?" Piper asked from the copilot's seat. She sounded just as nervous as Erith felt.

See, Erith wasn't afraid of heights. She was, however, afraid of falling to her death from this high up. And she wasn't really... having too much fun with Leo controlling the damn thing.

"Aces," he replied, then quickly changed the subject. "So what's the Wolf House?"

Jason knelt between their seats, while Erith stood behind Leo. But this subject was clearly all Jason's thing, and he knew it. "An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it―Jack London."

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but Erith couldn't place it. Leo guessed, "He an actor?"

"Writer," Piper corrected. "Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White Fang?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "He was a son of Mercury―I mean, Hermes. He was an adventurer, traveled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then he made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion―the Wolf House."

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Leo guessed again.

"Boy, if this was a gameshow, you'd be winning," Erith said from behind him. She couldn't see his face, but she thought he might've smiled.

"Partially," Jason answered. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves―he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story―how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much―stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

"Demigods. Sounds like it sucks," Erith commented, and Jason and Leo laughed. Piper grinned.

The bay slipped behind them, and the helicopter continued north. Ahead of them, yellow hills rolled out as far as Erith could see.

"So Jack London went to Camp Half-Blood," Leo prompted.

"No," Jason said. "No, he didn't." Jason turned and gave Erith a significant look.

"Bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk. Are you remembering your past or not?" Leo asked.

"Pieces," Jason replied. "Only pieces. None of it good. The Wolf House is on sacred ground. It's where London started his journey as a child―where he found out he was a demigod. That's why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site."